2009 Toyota Yaris S Hatchback 2-door 1.5l on 2040-cars

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Lexus, Mazda win KBB 5-Year Cost To Own Awards

We focus a lot on what new cars are like to drive, but it's difficult on a one-week loan to really get a sense of what a car is like to live with. Sure, we try to recreate that sense with our long-term vehicles, but even after a year, it's impossible to know fully learn about a car, particularly in terms of reliability and cost of repairs. For 2014 model year vehicles, Kelley Blue Book has put together a list of the most affordable vehicles over a five-year period.
At the tippy top of the list are Mazda and Lexus, with the Zoom-Zoom automaker winning the award for best non-luxury brand. Lexus, meanwhile, was the most affordable luxury marque over a five-year period. It's interesting to note, though, that not a single Mazda won its segment in this year's awards.
General Motors did quite well, taking eight segments, including both the subcompact and plug-in segments, with the gas-powered Chevrolet Spark and Spark EV. The Chevy Camaro SS and ZL1 took the high-performance car award. Toyota was well represented, with five winners split between the main brand (Corolla, Prius C and Tacoma) and Lexus (LS and RX).

Stellantis and Toyota expand partnership with large commercial van

Stellantis said on Monday it would expand its partnership with Toyota Motor Europe (TME) with a new large commercial van, including an electric version. Stellantis will supply TME, a unit of Japan's Toyota Motor Corp, with the new vehicle for sale in Europe under the Toyota brand, it said. The van will be produced at Stellantis plants in Gliwice, Poland, and Atessa, Italy. "Planned for mid-2024, the new large-size commercial van marks TME's first entry into the large-size commercial vehicle segment," Stellantis added in a statement. The deal widens the partnership between the two companies and allows a better optimization of Stellantis' Atessa plant, which currently makes large vans sold under the Peugeot, Citroen and Fiat marques. "It represents an important addition and completes our light commercial line-up for Toyota's European customers," Stellantis said. Paris-listed shares in Stellantis were up 1.6% by 0941 GMT. Carmakers have increasingly been agreeing cross-manufacturing deals to reduce costs in vans, which due to a boom in parcel delivery are seeing large demand — and where electric vehicle versions are also seeing rising sales to carry out "last-mile" deliveries in city centers. Green Fiat Toyota Citroen Peugeot Minivan/Van Commercial Vehicles Electric

Toyota FT-1 hints at Supra, more aggressive hybrids

Toyota showed off the new FT-1 performance concept at the 2014 Detroit Auto Show today, and the obvious story angle is that this is the new Supra. That's enough weight for most concept cars to carry, but then we thought about it a bit more - FT-1 stands for "Future Toyota 1," after all - and re-read the hints Toyota is dropping about how the FT-1 fits into the company's future. Put all the pieces together, and we think there's a chance Toyota's hybrid models are about to get a whole lot cooler. Technically, the FT-1 is an EV, but that's just because all it has for a powetrain is a small battery and motor to move it around on stage. This concept doesn't even have a proposed powertrain, but a production Supra could have any number of powerplants under the hood (V6, V8, hybrid and inline-six are all mentioned by Automotive News). We also like the big red start button on the steering wheel, which owes at least a little to the blue start button in the Prius. What we're more interested here is what this sleek red beast could do for the look of Toyota's hybrids. The FT-1 could change how Toyota designs cars in the future. To make the FT-1, Akio Toyoda, the president and CEO of Toyota Motor Corporation, apparently challenged Toyota's Calty Design Research team to create a car with passion and "a palpable heart-pounding sense of excitement." Instead of making design decisions "by consensus among a large group of stakeholders," the company says "the [design] approval process has been streamlined. This new approach aims to produce cars that connect more deeply with customers." There was a sense in Detroit today that the FT-1 heralds a change in how the company designs cars in the future. The FT-1 is apparently not the result of Toyota's hybrid supercar partnership with BMW, but we know that Toyota isn't a total stranger to a high-performance hybrid category, having built the TS030 hybrid Le Mans race car. For an on-road gas-electric from the company, though, we're much more used to the egg-shaped Prius. While Toyota has backed off a 2003 pledge to make every model a hybrid, it has said that it wants gas-electrics powertrains to proliferate throughout the line-up. And, if the FT-1 previews a new Toyota look, then at least some of those hybrids will benefit from some of the good looks on display in Detroit.